Ajapsandal in jars for winter

Step-by-step cooking

1. Step 1:

   

   How to close the ajapsandal for the winter? First, prepare all the main ingredients. Wash the vegetables thoroughly and rinse with coriander under running water.

2. Step 2:

   

   Remove the "tails" from both sides of the eggplant, and then cut the blue circles about 7-8 mm thick.

3. Step 3:

   

   Cover the eggplants with coarse salt, mix everything and leave for 20 minutes. This will allow you to use less vegetable oil in the future, when frying the circles.

4. Step 4:

   

   At this time, prepare the sauce. In tomatoes, remove the attachment points of the peduncle. Cut the tomatoes into circles or semicircles about 5-7 mm thick, then send them to a small saucepan and add tomato paste. Pasta in this case will give the finished dish a richer color and a characteristic sourness. Put the tomatoes on the stove and, stirring occasionally, cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes.

5. Step 5:

   

   Tomatoes will release juice and you will get a fragrant sauce. Cover the pan with a lid, remove from the heat and leave to infuse, and at this time, take care of the rest of the vegetables.

6. Step 6:

   

   Peel and rinse the onion, slice thinly.

7. Step 7:

   

   Cut the bell pepper in half, remove the seeds, white veins and the attachment points of the peduncle. Cut it into thin half rings. Use red pepper or fruits of different colors to prepare ajapsandali. So the finished dish will look brighter and more appetizing.

8. Step 8:

   

   Meanwhile, the eggplants have already been infused and you can do them. Wash off the salt with cold water and squeeze out the blue ones. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and fry the eggplants on both sides until golden brown. Do it in portions. For convenience and to save time, you can use a second frying pan. During the frying process, add oil as needed. Put the finished circles on napkins, they will absorb excess fat.

10. Step 9:

    

    Fry the pepper in the same oil that you have left after the eggplant. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pepper becomes soft.

11. Step 10:

    

    Remove the pepper from the pan and fry the onion until lightly browned.

12. Step 11:

    

    Chop the hot pepper into rings and lightly fry. The amount of chili should be adjusted to taste. Like it sharper-take a few pods and leave the seeds (they give a special bitterness). If you do not accept the sharpness in such dishes, exclude the pepper altogether.

13. Step 12:

    

    Combine all the products in one large bowl, you can use a bowl or a saucepan. Add salt, sugar, chopped cilantro and garlic passed through a press. I used Adyghe salt, it contains dry seasonings, which made ajapsandali more fragrant. At this stage, you can add a little dry basil, hops, sunels, etc. Add salt in portions, everyone tastes different and it may turn out that 1 tablespoon will be a lot for you.

14. Step 13:

    

    Send the pan to the stove. At medium heat, cook for about 20-25 minutes (ajapsandali should be constantly bubbling slightly). Stir the vegetable stew periodically so that nothing burns. At the end, pour in the vinegar and cook for another 3-5 minutes. The cooking time may change slightly, make sure that the vegetables do not turn into porridge.

15. Step 14:

    

    Arrange the finished stew in sterile jars and roll up with sterile lids. Turn the workpiece upside down, wrap it with a warm blanket and leave it to cool completely.

16. Step 15:

    

    Very tasty and fragrant Georgian ajapsandali is ready!